Globe blocks 995 spammers from network

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Telecom on Friday said it has so far blocked 995 mobile numbers as of April this year in its drive against unsolicited promotional materials or text spams.

Globe said the amount of blocked numbers is 33 percent higher than the total mobile numbers blocked in 2013. For the first four months of the year, the blocked numbers due to spamming ballooned by an average of 450 percent from 2013.

“We would like to appeal to our customers to continue partnering with us in this endeavor by reporting mobile numbers used in sending annoying text spams through various Globe channels so that appropriate measures could be undertaken. As part of the company’s thrust to provide a wonderful customer experience, Globe will continue to pursue this campaign so that our network will not be used for illegal activities such as text spam and text scam,” Globe General Counsel Froilan Castelo said.

Globe encourages its customers to visit http://www.globe.com.ph/stopspam and provide all the details required whenever they receive text scams or spams. Subscribers can also report via he Globe website through Talk2Globe Chat (http://chat.globe.com.ph); send a message through Globe Contact Form (http://globe.com.ph/talk2Globenow) and by tweeting @Talk2GLOBE on Twitter. Subscribers can put in the number, the exact message, and the time and date the text spam was received.

Globe said numbers that are reported for the first time as the source of text spams are sent warnings, and if they are reported for the second time, they are immediately blocked from the network.

"Aside from the Globe channels, customers can also keep themselves from getting text spams through their own devices. iOS users may block unwanted numbers by opening the message, clicking the Contact button at the right hand corner, clicking the "i" next to the number they wish to block. They can then scroll down to the bottom of the page where they will see the option "Block this caller" and then click to confirm," Globe said.

Meanwhile, for Android users, subscribers may block spam through their gadget's filtering settings: Go to Settings, press the Spam Message Settings, click "Add to Spam Numbers" and add spammers' numbers. They may also choose to actively block by inputting commonly used spam phrases and adding it to the "Add to Spam Phrases" list, it added.

The telecom company said it is also reporting cases to the National Telecommunications Commission to impose sanctions against spammers.